Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Pheochromocytoma is a rare tumor. It can be revealed or complicated by cardiovascular manifestations. The aim of our work is to study the cardiovascular manifestations of pheochromocytoma and the evolution of hypertension after surgery.

Patients and methods: A retrospective study of 18 cases of pheochromocytoma followed at the endocrinology and metabolic diseases department of Mohammed VI university hospital of Oujda during a period of 5 years. Clinical data, electrocardiogram and trans-thoracic ultrasound were recorded for each patient.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 47 years. Discovery conditions were dominated by the Menard triad in 7 cases and incidentaloma exploration in 6 cases. The dosage of urinary methoxylated derivatives was greater than 3 times the normal value in 94.4% of cases. Half of the patients were hypertensive, 8 of whom were diabetic. On electrocardiogram: Left ventricular hypertrophy was noted in 4 cases, tachycardia in 2 cases, bradycardia in 1 case, and repolarization disorders in 2 cases. Trans-thoracic ultrasound was normal in 5 cases, and showed a left ventricular hypertrophy in 4 cases, an aneurysmal dilatation of the ascending aorta in one case and a pericardial detachment in 1 case. The evolution after the surgical cure was marked by the normalization of the blood pressure values under no treatment in 44% of the cases, and improvement with a reduction in the number of antihypertensives drugs in 22% of cases.

Conclusion: Pheochromocytomas are high-risk cardiovascular tumors that can be life-threatening. Surgical treatment normalized blood pressure in 44% of cases.